Storm the court NFHS
 

The fans storm the court and what was assumed the end of the game because the game clock showed zeros. The referee had called a foul with 1.2 seconds left but clock did not stop. The officials assessed a technical foul on the home team for the storming by fans.

Was this handled properly based on NFHS rules?

Technically, yes. Rules 2-8-1 and 10-2-1b (that one's a stretch) can be used here. There are plenty of examples in HS and NCAA play of this occurring and being adjudicated in this way. Storming the court is a dangerous practice and injuries of fans, players, and officials are common when it happens, so I don't blame officials for their concern.

Would every official handle it this way? Likely not. The case book specifically warns to use extreme caution when assessing technical fouls for spectators' behavior. But the aforementioned views on court storming will lead to some officials calling technical fouls.

Many times it's a "you had to be there". It's a question of what factors contributed to the timing error, how big the "storm" was, did they delay return to the stands if asked, were they ignoring requests to return to the stands, etc.

I don’t agree with the technical foul.
The spectators were not unruly nor interfering with game play.
They were merely celebrating after reasonably believing that the game had ended.
Simply have game management remove the fans from the floor, restore the time to the game clock, and proceed with the contest by administering the penalty for the foul which was called.

NFHS rule reference = 2-8-1 Note.

Discretion ...
 

NOTE: The home management or game committee is responsible for spectator behavior, insofar as it can reasonably be expected to control the spectators. The officials may rule fouls on either team if its supporters act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game. Discretion must be used in ruling such fouls, however, lest a team be unjustly penalized. When team supporters become unruly or interfere with the orderly progress of the game, the officials must stop the game until the host management resolves the situation and the game can proceed in an orderly manner. In the absence of a designated school representative, the home coach must serve as the host management.

2.8.1 SITUATION: What guidelines should be exercised by the officials when spectators’ actions are such that they interfere with the administration of the game? RULING: The rules book states “the official may rule fouls on either team if its supporters act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game.” It is significant to note the word used is “may.” This gives permission, but does not in any way imply that officials must call technical fouls on team followers or supporters for unsporting acts. Thus, while officials do have the authority to penalize a team whose spectators interfere with the proper conduct of the game, this authority must be used with extreme caution and discretion. While the authority is there, the official must rarely use it, because experience has demonstrated that calling hasty technical fouls on the crowd rarely solves the problem and may, in fact, result in penalizing the wrong team because the official may not have proper knowledge as to which team's supporters were responsible for the unsporting act.

If there is any question that the game is over, just clear the court and move on. This happened in our area about a year ago and there was a question of the game being over. The horn went off and the fans stormed the court thinking they had won. Well, the officials called a T and then FTs made the game go into overtime. It did not go over well here that this was the right thing to do.

So I would say that it was not the right thing to do unless there was clearly the fans interfered with the game before the game was over and the end was not in question.

Peace

I agree 100%!

MTD, Sr.

No T....clear the spectators from the court and continue play